Mistwalkers
by miraakspony
Summary: After Alduin was defeated, and peace restored to Skyrim, it came. The Mist. And with it the dead awoke from their everlasting slumber. No one who values their life goes out at night. But when Nerai's best friend's life is at stake, she will kill every single thing that dare keep them apart.
1. Chapter 1

Nothing could penetrate the Mist. She had tried everything she knew; Torches, Magelight, even dragon's fire. In the Mist she could hardly swing a sword without hitting a tree or a fellow hunter.

And that was just the beginning of her problems.

If she hadn't been Dragonborn, she probably would have died within the first days of the Mistwalkers. Nearly all of her closest friends had gone insane. The last ones left that she knew of were her best friends Farkas, Lydia and Serena, and her daughters Sofie and Za'Mara. Most citizens who lived in open cities and villages had moved to the walled ones, so streets were normally crowded with beggars and double-crossing merchants. Nerai had chosen to live in Solitude, for even though it was a known Imperial city and she was a famous Stormcloak commander, it had the tallest walls and largest guard.

She also _hated_ the fact that the only way she could see her mentor and friends (who happened to be dragon) was on rare hunting trips or going to the Throat of the World, and even then it was difficult to cram three huge dragons on the small peak.

And here she was, the Dragonborn, cutting carrots to help Farkas cook a small dinner for Za'mara's 10th birthday. Earlier they opened her gifts, which consisted of a pet rabbit, a new doll, and Nerai's old glass dagger. Her daughter Sofie, like all children, was very jealous of her Khajiit sisters' gifts. And since Nerai was had a soft spot with her children, she had given Sofie Farkas's Skyforge Steel dagger.

She noticed small hand tugging on the hem on her long bearskin cloak. When she looked down, she saw Za'Mara. "Mama, Meeko's chasing my rabbit!" she complained. Nerai sighed. Meeko's was the family dog, and he was usually obnoxious like this. "Farkas, I'll go deal with Meeko. You can stop cooking; I think the stew's done." she said. Nerai walked out of the kitchen to find Meeko barking at a quivering ball of fur under the dining table. She was about to yell at the dog when suddenly, there was a loud knock at her door. Farkas got there first. Nerai peered over his shoulder and saw three Solitude guards stood at the door. "You need to leave! The Mistwalkers have invaded the city!" one shouted.

For a moment, everything in Nerai's world suddenly stopped. Surely the guards were tricking them? No. Of course not. They weren't that cruel. She was vaguely aware of someone shaking her shoulder, and she came out of her trance.

"Nerai, call the dragons! I'll get your gear!" Farkas yelled. She had to stay calm. Her children clinged to her legs. "Sofie, go get your special things. You too, Za'Mara." "I'll go get Meeko and the rabbit." She said with her voice wavering. She looped a long leather strip around Meeko's neck and scooped Za'mara's rabbit into her free hand. Nerai ran outside and shouted.

"OH DAH VIING!"

The dragon was already circling the city. He landed facing her "I know what is happening. I do not mind taking your family or your possessions to the Throat of the World." He said in his deep draconic voice. She dropped the rabbit into a wicker basket and threw her arms around the red dragon. "Thank you, hin sil kos sahrot!" she nearly shouted. "Hurry now. Paathurnax will worry. She ran back to the house and slipped into her ebony armor. Farkas handed her the survival gear. "Thank you Farkas. Odahviing's outside." She said quickly. Everyone in her family loved dragons. Nerai had even let her children ride Odahviing once. He was like a brother to her. She heard her children run downstairs.

"Alright guys, Odahviing is outside. Hurry!" she ushered the kids out the door and took one last look at Proudspire Manor, and was swept up onto the great dragons back. Their gear lay between her and Farkas. And then she noticed; they were missing something, or more, someone. "Odahviing!" she shouted as he lifted them into the air. She looked down, and saw Solitude burning. Her home and her friends, and couldn't save them. Her eyes felt wet. "Odahviing, can you get Shadowmere?" she shouted over the screams and sword clashes below. "Aal Kos. I will try." He growled." Thank you again, Dovah-Vahlok." She almost relaxed. Nerai looked back at Farkas with a pleading look.

"Yeah, we have everything." he said.

"Oh Farkas, your amazing!" And with that, she turned around on the dragon's back and kissed Farkas full on the mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

Nerai had fallen asleep leaning against Farkas on the ride to the Throat of the World, and had awoken hearing Sofie and Za'Mara shouting with laughter. She rubbed her eyes "What's so funny? She asked groggily. It took a few minutes for one of them to stop laughing long enough to explain, and even then the only discernible words were "Odahviing" "Shout" and "Bump." Her kids were strange. They were suddenly pulled into a dive. She leaned over and saw a large tan colored dragon perching on an old Word Wall. "Hold on guys!" as they landed. The scales beneath her shuddered. "Off with you. My scales ache from this." Odahviing said grouchily. She knew he was teasing though. "Oh shush, dragon. You've been through worse." She snorted "Like that time I nearly killed you." Farkas guffawed behind her, and that earned her a rough nudge from Odahviing.

Nerai helped her children off and into overlarge cloaks. Farkas got the bundle of gear down. Za'Mara screamed when she saw the aged dragon looking at her. "Oh shush!" Sofie nudged her cowering sister and walked up to Paathurnax. "He's just a dragon. If Mama and Odah trust him, we can too." She patted his snout. Nerai suddenly felt a rush of affection for her daughter. Perhaps she has the dragon blood? She had adopted Za'Mara and birthed Sofie. Perhaps. "Hello Paathurnax. Drem Yol Lok." She said. "Drem Yol Lok." He returned the greeting. "I have found that your home has been invaded." He started.

He was about to give one of his long speeches. "One moment. I need to make this place slightly livable for them" she said, gesturing to her daughters "Krosis. Go ahead." He responded.

"Farkas, can you help me for a moment? We need to unpack some things." She said lightly. They set to work preparing a small campsite and getting a fire started with the help of Odahviing. Nerai spread out the provisions they had brought. There were only non-perishable food choices, like salted beef and dried herbs. They had to be careful with this. She would have to explain the situation to her children. She sighed "Sofie, Za'Mara, can you come here please?" she started. "Do you know why we left?" And to her surprise, Sofie answered in a firm voice. "Because the Mistwalkers got into our city. We would have died if we stayed. Odah took us here because it is far away from the bad things." Momentarily stunned, she continued "Right. So we only have this stuff. I know the Graybeards will help us if we run out. Farkas and I will make a little cabin, but for now this is all we have." She indicated the peak. "We are going to hold a meeting, so you need to stay out of the way for a while, because there will be three dragons, plus Farkas and I." They nodded and went to play with their toys.

Nerai pulled her hood up and walked over to her mentor "I am ready. Should I summon Durnehviir?" she asked. "Yes. He would not like to miss a meeting like this." His voice was almost a growl. She took a deep breath and walked over to the small landing spot they had made during last year's warm months. Not that it made much difference up here.

"DUR NEH VIIR!"

Nerai shouted. The ground seemed to split open, and within a second the great dragon Durnehviir was stood on the peak. "Ahh, good to feel the fresh air of Taazokaan again. What is your request, thuri?" He said in his deep draconic voice. Nerai smiled. If Odahviing was her brother, and Paathurnax her wise grandfather, then Durnehviir was her awesome uncle. "Good to see you again, vahlok. We were having a meeting and thought you might like to join us." She said.

"Of course. Thank you for summoning me." He dipped his head. "No problem. It would be unkind to leave you out of this." She patted his snout. Nerai looked around. Odahviing was circling the Throat to make room for everyone. "Odahviing! You can land now!" she shouted. He landed on the very top and leaned in to hear. She spread out a bed roll for her and Farkas, grabbed a loaf of bread, and draped a cloak around their shoulders.

"Settled now, joor?" Paathurnax joked. She was usually picked on because of her tendency to put a bunch of padding between her and the ground. "Hey! We aren't dragon, it's not like we have three feet of fat to keep us warm." She shot back. They scowled at each other. "Enough." Paathurnax gave laughed "Anyway, we need to make a plan. We can't live in a tent forever, and we might freeze." She said. "Hmm. I could bring wood..." Odahviing said, obviously about to ask for something. "But only if you never use that vokul shout on me again." He finished. "You mean Bend Will? I think that's agreeable enough…" she trailed off. Suddenly she remembered something "Lydia!" she burst out jumping to her feet. "We forgot Lydia!" she shouted.


	3. Chapter 3

_Her world was spinning in a blaze of panic. The one coherent thought in her mind "I forgot my best friend" she couldn't see, she couldn't move. The world was gone. Gone like her best friend was now. She was falling down, down, down into her very own oblivion of pain and loss and depression. She must be dying. Everything on her body hurt. Why was that? She was dead, and wasn't death painless. The hands that grabbed her chest were surely Deaths. Nocturnal had taken her early…_

"Nerai? Nerai! You're awake!" She opened her eyes enough to take in her surroundings. She was in her warm hide tent and was lying on a sabre-cat bed roll. The back of her head throbbed angrily; apparently unhappy with the fluffy pillows it was propped up on. She felt extremely weak. Like she had just run up and down the Throat of the World several times. She couldn't summon enough energy to answer the voice that had woken her up from the strange darkness she had fallen into when-"Lydia!" What was meant to be a shout came out as a low hiss. She shifted and saw three dragons attempting to peer into the tiny tent.

Nerai suddenly became aware of two bodies beside her. One was very small, and she glanced over to see Za'mara's rabbit snuggled in the white fur of the bedroll. She knew the other without having to look. An endless panting filled the room and a thumping on her leg told her it was Meeko. With her remaining strength she closed her eyes and stretched her arm out to meet the wolfhounds back. She blacked out.

The next few days consisted of her laying on the bedroll while Farkas told her what had happened. Apparently she had started screaming "LYDIA!" over and over and was running down the trail when she was blasted down the mountain because of the harsh winds. She was lucky to have survived.

When the day finally came for her to try to stand up, she found that her left leg from the calf down was paralyzed. This probably should have worried her more, but the concussion she had received prevented this from becoming coherent enough. Farkas took over and made plans to have the children taken to Fort Dawnguard by Odahviing. The day before their flight were mostly filled with her hugging and playing with her children. She was sure she would never see them again.

The day of their departure was strange. Farkas was running around putting their stuff in knapsacks. Every time Nerai tried to help she was pushed down by either Farkas's hand or by a dragon's tail. The children were weeping on top of Paathurnax.

When they finally climbed onto Odahviing's neck, Nerai avoided all attempts to get her to stay in bed. She used her old Staff of Magelight to get to the dragon. She sighed "Be good to Serana. She's got enough on her hands already!" she joked, hugging the two of them. She looked them both in the eye "But in all seriousness, be careful. Please" She sighed. "We will Mama." Za'Mara said tearfully. Nerai jumped. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She turned around and called softly to Za'mara's bunny. The Khajiit had named it Vahlok- the dragon word for friend. "Vahlok, come here. " The snow white bunny hopped over at the sound of its name. She picked it up and set it in Za'mara's knapsack.

Before they could say anymore, Odahviing took off, knocking Nerai off her feet and into the soft snow.

Even though the flurries blurred her eyes, she though she saw a spike of ice fall off the dragon.

Her daughter had shouted.


End file.
